Chapter 32
Translator: True Detective
### Chapter 32: The Otherworld
In the afternoon, after the Academy classes ended.
As soon as I returned to the accommodation, I ran into Yveline, who had been waiting.
Spread out on the desk was a detailed architectural blueprint of the Academy that Celly had obtained.
I threw off my coat and got straight to the point.
"Did you check what I asked for?"
Yveline leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, not hiding her displeasure.
"……Honestly, I was really offended that you asked me to observe that commoner girl. But I did it because you told me to. She was indeed doing weird things, just as you said."
"Thanks. As expected, I was right to leave it to you."
Actually.
I had asked Yveline to observe Yuna.
I was a bit flustered when I ran into Yuna head-on at the library earlier.
But it was still a good move to send Yveline separately.
If I had even one graduate student like this in my past life, my thesis output would have doubled.
Anyway.
The reason I had her observe Yuna was clear. I was certain.
In the original novel, there was a description of a "cotton ball-like existence" floating around Yuna.
If Yuna is talking to thin air or making strange hand gestures.
That is 100% evidence that she is seeing a ghost.
In the original work, she conducted a purification operation together with Edwin at a specific point where that presence became distinct.
Then a question naturally arises.
'Can't we just go to that location?'
One might say that.
But the situation is different now.
I mean, the development is twisted as much as it can be, right?
The knowledge of the original work is now closer to a reference book.
It means there's no guarantee that the location where she solved it with Edwin is still valid.
I sat in the chair next to Yveline and asked.
"So, where exactly was it?"
Yveline pointed to a spot on the Academy's architectural blueprint.
"Here, a blind spot a bit away from the entrance of First Year Class A. She was mumbling to herself while touching a wall where no one was. It was quite creepy."
The rumor that a ghost appears around Class A and the spot where Eleanor felt the Spirit Vessel strongly overlap exactly.
This couldn't be a coincidence.
*'It seems likely to be there, right?'*
I asked Eleanor, who had been assessing the situation from inside my sleeve.
[Even in this lady's opinion, the probability is high that it is there.]
Even if it isn't the passage leading to the Otherworld.
It's certainly a point strongly connected to it.
"Senior. Is it possible to calculate the exact coordinates?"
[I cannot be certain, but if you step foot there personally, the possibility will increase significantly. Trust in this lady's senses.]
Okay.
Since there are many ghost sightings particularly at night.
It's best to move right away tonight.
As I picked up my coat again.
Yveline narrowed her eyes and blocked my path.
"Are you going? To meet that girl?"
"I'm not going to meet her, I'm going to investigate……."
"Liar."
She grabbed my sleeve and pressed her face close.
"Does that commoner girl bother you? I don't understand why you're digging around her so much. If by any chance you're harboring other intentions……."
"……Yveline, it's not like that. It's just a plan to solve the ghost disturbance. You know that best."
At my firm response, Yveline stared at me piercingly for a moment.
Soon, she let out a small sigh and released the sleeve she was holding.
"Then I'm going too. I can't let you go alone."
***
Deep at night, inside the Academy.
I ended up coming alone.
Yveline insisted on coming, but.
I barely managed to leave her behind.
If two people move, the probability of being spotted by the security guards on night duty only increases.
Naturally, there are guards at the Academy who block entry at night.
Academy guards in this neighborhood are guards only in name.
In reality, they are people no different from knights.
In short, the moment you're caught, it becomes a major headache.
Therefore, I used the Optical Camouflage and Noise Canceling magic that I used effectively at the Estal Duke family.
But with my calculation capacity, maintaining this for two people simultaneously is impossible.
That was the reason I left Yveline behind.
But right now, in the middle of this empty hallway, I am regretting my choice like a dog.
The Academy at night.
Is really, fucking scary!
I absolutely hate unscientific things.
An invisible existence ignoring the laws of physics?
Isn't that taking lack of business ethics too far.
"Phew........."
I swallowed dry saliva and took a deep breath.
Right, if I'm really scared, let's just throw one question when I meet a ghost.
"Excuse me, how did you fix your horizontal coordinate system?"
This is on a planet that rotates and revolves.
By what means are you stuck exactly in that spot?
If I intimidate it to prove it through physics.
Then wouldn't the ghost also find it so absurd that it runs away?
Running simulations in my head, I slowly moved my steps.
***
The hallway, covered in pitch-black darkness, has a completely different atmosphere than during the day.
I feel like my footsteps are echoing unusually loud.
*Step—, step—.*
Wait, these are my footsteps, right?
No one is walking with me from behind, right?
No, wait, fuck.
I set up Noise Canceling, didn't I?
Why do I hear a sound?
*'……Senior. Didn't you hear footsteps just now?'*
[Rihan. To be scared of just this, the sound of your heart is echoing all the way inside my sleeve.]
*'No, in a worldview where ghosts actually exist, it's natural to be scared! Will you take responsibility if I have a heart attack, Senior?'*
[It is merely the footsteps of a patrolling guard. For a man, you certainly have a lot of fear.]
Even if she speaks like that, Eleanor is clearly enjoying my reaction.
School ghost stories I heard in my past life keep popping up in my head.
Like a piano ghost that plays every night.
Or a tissue ghost that reaches out a hand from under the bathroom stall.
Ugh, goosebumps.
No, for a prestigious Academy, they should at least keep enough lights on.
Where are they spending all the saved budget?
Undoubtedly, the higher-ups are eating it all up as dinner expenses.
It was then.
"Hehe, haha……."
A clear laughter, presumed to be a girl's, was heard from beyond the darkness.
*'Fuck! It's out!'*
It feels like my heart is about to jump out of my mouth.
Finally, what was bound to come has arrived.
The time has come to face the ghost in a no-holds-barred match.
I reflexively squeezed mana into my hand.
*Sizzle, sizzle—!*
Blue lightning bursts from my fingertips.
Just you try coming.
If it's an existence that ignores the laws of physics, I'll punish it with firepower beyond common sense.
I'll turn it into an electric roast just like that.
I slowly walked forward.
Soon, I arrived at the place Yveline mentioned.
That spine-chilling laughter is heard again.
"Hehe, haha……."
It's definitely right nearby.
But there is nothing.
At the end of the hallway where the moonlight shone, not even a common shadow could be seen.
To have a sound but no physical form.
"……."
Suppressing my fear, I reached my hand into the air.
I felt a very subtle, heterogeneous density of mana at my fingertips.
"……Senior. Don't you think the mana density here is a bit high?"
Eleanor, who had been watching my state from inside the sleeve, was silent for a moment and then spoke.
[Rihan. How did you notice this? Now that I examine it, it is indeed about 2% higher than the surroundings.]
2%.
To someone, it might be a margin of error worth ignoring.
But not to me.
According to the laws of thermodynamics.
All energy has a property of naturally trying to spread out.
The same principle as how hot water placed in a room eventually cools down to reach equilibrium with the surrounding temperature.
Energy should normally always diffuse in a direction of disorder.
But here is the exact opposite.
Without external interference, energy is isolated and condensed at a single point.
In other words, it is directly denying the laws of thermodynamics.
Which means there is only one conclusion.
That a space we cannot perceive is overlapping at this point, like the back side of a piece of paper.
If that weren't the case, there's no way this concentration difference could be maintained.
*'Senior. Doesn't this seem related to the Otherworld?'*
[……I suspect so as well. It is certainly bizarre. Even if it is a mere 2%, maintaining a concentration difference in an open space like this is evidence that the spaces themselves are overlapping.]
I became certain at Eleanor's short answer heard from inside the sleeve.
****
I crouched in a corner of the hallway and racked my brain.
In the original work, the protagonist Edwin uses a **Holy Decree** to forcibly manifest the ghost.
Then Yuna would empathize with the ghost while stroking it.
Eventually, the original scenario involves drawing out all the tears and snot to let it pass on.
So here's the question.
What is a Holy Decree?
To explain simply, it means the word of a Sovereign.
The principle is similar to the Kotodama I possess.
A unique magic where the world changes to match the words spat out.
In the original work, Edwin uses this Holy Decree to drag out the hidden ghost.
Then a question naturally arises.
Can what is possible with a Holy Decree also be done with my Kotodama?
At times like this, it's fastest to ask the 1,000-year-old Eleanor.
Because 70% of most things are resolved at her level.
"Senior. Do you happen to know about the Holy Decree?"
[You mean the words used by an Emperor?]
Oh, she indeed knows.
"How do you know?"
[A thousand years ago. The Emperor at that time was my disciple.]
"……."
No, just how wide are this person's connections.
At this point, it would be faster to find a historical figure NOT associated with Eleanor.
"Then if Kotodama and the Holy Decree clashed, who would win? Both are words that become reality."
[What do you take Kotodama for. That magic called Holy Decree itself is merely a crude imitation derived from my Kotodama.]
Eleanor explained with a snort.
[It is a degraded version that could not even mimic the original power, so constraints like bloodline were placed upon it. My Kotodama is not bound by such crude rules.]
Then the answer is out. It means everything done with a Holy Decree is possible with Kotodama.
Because Kotodama is a much higher-tier concept.
"……Senior. Should we just enter the Otherworld directly?"
That spot with abnormally high mana density.
Originally, Edwin should summon the ghost with the Holy Decree "Manifest," but.
I am the one who must take the Spirit Vessel.
There is no reason to increase the risk by dragging out the ghost disturbance.
As for the original work's development, I can just fill it in later by acting as a villain more intensely.
Eleanor also went silent and pondered for a moment.
Soon she answered as if she found it interesting.
[This lady shall assist you. Let us go. To see what lurks beyond that gap.]
It's decided.
I let out a short breath, *Phew*.
The coordinates are fixed.
Now the important thing is the image. Another space hidden on the back of the paper.
There is no need to calculate complex formulas.
Because the system called Kotodama will perform the calculations on its own.
I reached my hand towards the spot where the mana was most abnormally distorted.
"**Break the boundary.**"
At that moment, my vision flashed violently.
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